Popular Telugu actor Venkatesh and actress Maheswari have bagged the Andhra Pradesh government's prestigious Nandi Award for best actor and actress for 1999. While Venkatesh won the award for his performance in the box office hit "Kalisundam raa," Maheswari won it for "Neekosam". The award carries a statue, cash prize of Rs 15,000 and a certificate. "Kalisundam raa" was also adjudged the best feature film and won the gold Nandi. Ramgopal Varma won the best director award, K V Reddy gold medal, copper Nandi, Rs 10,000 and a certificate.

Announcing the awards at a news conference in Hyderabad on Friday, Awards Committee chairman D V S Raju said the jury members had viewed 25 feature films before selecting the best feature film.

Earlier, Raju presented the committee's report to State Home and Cinematography Minister T Devender Goud. The best male playback singer award was bagged by Hariharan for the film "Annaiah" and the best female playback singer award went to Chitra for the film "Swayamvaram". Vandemataram Srinivas was adjudged the best music director for "Swayamvaram". The awards would be given away at a function on the State Formation Day, November 1.